The Darker Side
by iLarryyy
Summary: Amidst the lava & rubble of a desolate world on the brink of destruction, a Jedi master and his fallen apprentice fight to the death. On that same world, the Super Saiyan of legend battles the self-proclaimed emperor to end his tyrannous reign. But what will happen when the victors of their respective battles come face to face under the pitch-black sky of the doomed planet Namek?
1. Clashing Fates

He ducked.

The tyrant's burning fist skimmed through the spines of his golden hair. He curled up his bloodied hand and jolted it blindly upwards; hardened flesh tore beneath his knuckles, and he felt the mutant organs shudder. The tyrant coughed violently. A fountain of royal blood erupted from his gaping mouth. He darted forwards as his opponent collapsed, desperately clutching his stomach in a fruitless attempt to ease the searing pain of the irreparable haemorrhage.

The emperor slowly raised his gaze from the sodden ground, gasping for air and shivering with hatred and fear as he locked eyes with the man who stood before him.  
Those eyes… those shining, blue-green whirlpools of pure and utter rage… they saw more in him than just an opponent. More than just an obstacle. More than just an enemy.

 _They saw a monster._

* * *

He ignited it.

The streak of brilliant blue extended rapidly from its metal hilt as his opponent descended from above, twirling in mid-air. He stepped to the side, barely evading the similarly-coloured sabre, and sparks flew from the ground where it struck. The apprentice stood up to face him and furiously began to spin his trusted weapon with expert precision; the master brought his arms up and tightened his grip on the hilt as the fiery edge of the young man's blade came crashing down.

The two cobalt streaks bounced off of each other in a flash, and the men clashed again. The apprentice unleashed a barrage of jabs and swings at his old master, scowling with newly-wrought hatred; the master struggled to parry his apprentice's furious attacks, fighting the overwhelming sadness that threatened to engulf him completely. The two men collided once more.

They were suddenly mere inches apart, and each studied the other, both their faces partially obscured by the dazzling blue light of their crossing sabres.  
Neither of them noticed that the sky was darkening rapidly; that lava was starting to trickle into the luscious green waters; and that the expansive, verdant horizon was beginning to ripple violently in the blazing heat of the surface.

* * *

 _"Please… you can't leave me to die like this… I'm begging you, please have mercy…"_

 _"You? Mercy? After all the countless people you murdered in cold blood?! You're a_ _ **fool**_ _to expect mercy, even from me!"_

 _"Please… you can't… do… this… I'm sorry… for what it's worth… I'm sorry…"_

 _"_ _ **NO!**_ _I would never accept an apology from a monster like you."_

 _"But… but Vegeta was… the same way and y-"_

 _"I sensed the good in Vegeta's heart. I knew that his hatred was_ _ **your**_ _construct,_ _ **your**_ _tool to make him do whatever you wanted! But you… you will_ _ **never**_ _change! And now… the fate of the planet that you yourself destroyed will be your own.  
I'm done with fighting."_

 _"S-simian…_ _ **bastard!**_ _You dare to walk away from me?! I am the r-ruler of the known universe… Frieza, the conqueror of galaxies! Frieza, the destroyer of worlds!_ _ **None**_ _surpass me! No-one even comes_ _ **close**_ _! And_ _ **now**_ _, you filthy, inbred, insubordinate Saiyan wretch…  
_ _ **You will perish, at the hands of your master!"**_

* * *

 _"Anakin. Stop this. It doesn't have to be this way!"_

 _"The Jedi… blinded to the truth by their own complacency. You're no different."_

 _"What_ _ **truth?**_ _Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!"_

 _"Evil?_ _ **EVIL?!**_ _From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!"_

 _"Well, then you are_ _ **lost.**_ _The dark side will_ _ **consume**_ _you, Anakin… it will_ _ **squeeze**_ _you until not a single drop of compassion is left. The Force has always been strong with you… if you fall to the darkness you will become something that surpasses even your worst nightmares."_

 _"All this talk of compassion, but what do the Jedi know of compassion?! They stand by and watch as the galaxy falls into chaos… they shun all attachments because of some stupid,_ _ **ancient**_ _code… and now they want to take over and make every word of their meaningless drivel into absolute law!"_

 _"Anakin, I-"_

 _"I am Anakin Skywalker no more! I am Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith, and you…_ _ **are my enemy!"**_

* * *

Scalding wind blew against Goku's face as he flew into the sky.  
The air thinned as he rose higher, and the sky around him darkened with clouds of microscopic ash. His spiked, golden locks whipped to the sides of his head, rustling violently, disturbed as though worried by a premonition of danger. His eyes narrowed. He thought he had felt a surge of ki behind him. He turned around, mid-flight, and sure enough, a thick beam of purple flame was rapidly approaching. Goku drew back a fist, and around it, a radiant sphere of fluctuating yellow light came into being.  
He growled like a savage and thrust his hand forward.

 _ **"YOU FOOL!"**_

He screamed the words as a brilliant wave of golden plasma cascaded from his open palm, swallowing the incoming beam whole as it went. His bisected assailant floated with his bloodied mouth agape for mere moments before he was simultaneously crushed and burned to a crisp. The ground fractured beneath the sheer force of the unstoppable attack. A cloud of hot dust and rocks was thrown into the air. The surrounding near-boiling water soon began to rush into the well of stone and earth, and Goku watched as Frieza's helpless half-corpse sank beneath the surface, unmoving and lifeless.

The tyrant's rule was over.

* * *

Obi-Wan crouched and leapt backwards across the lava. He twirled skilfully, thudded into the hot rubble of the crumbling riverbank and turned to face his old apprentice.

"It's over, Anakin. Don't try it."

"You underestimate my power, **Jedi.** "

Anakin screamed at the top of his lungs and spun through the air towards Obi-Wan, drawing his lightsabre mid-jump. In a flash, Obi-Wan ignited his own. The familiar hum was only interrupted by the sound of three limbs being severed and instantaneously cauterised.  
Anakin cried out as his dismembered torso smacked into the debris and began to slide down on the shifting, scorching rocks. His remaining hand stayed outstretched, and the melting electronics of his artificial fingers were laid bare against the blazing earth.

" _You were the chosen one!_ " Obi-Wan cried out, with an insoluble mixture of suppressed anger and regret in his voice. "It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them… bring balance to the Force, not… not leave it in **darkness!** "

Anakin stared at deep into his former master's eyes, and with a single blink, his irises became a hue of bright, sickly yellow; the colour of a Sith Lord.

 _ **"I HATE YOU!"**_

"You were my brother, Anakin. I… I loved you."

He screamed as one of the stumps of his legs began to dip into the river of lava. His torn, black Jedi robes caught fire within seconds, and the flames tickled the ends of his long, brown hair. Soon the blaze had engulfed his entire body; his skin reddened and his face was charred to the point of unrecognizability. Obi-Wan couldn't watch any longer. He picked up Anakin's fallen lightsabre and turned swiftly on his heels, not daring to look back.

 _ **"I HATE YOOOUU!"**_

A single tear began to roll down his face as he walked away, and it instantly evaporated in the searing heat.

* * *

Goku cursed to himself as he sped across surface of the dying world.

The Namek he knew was gone. Only lava and charred rock filled the landscape, and huge columns of sprouting fire were met with blood-red lightning bolts that briefly illuminated the pitch-black sky. He needed a ship. And fast. The planet was going to explode at any minute, and he wasn't going to survive. Even if the explosion didn't kill him, the vacuum of space certainly would.  
In the corner of his eye, he saw something. A glimmer of light. Upon closer inspection he saw that it was part of a circular vessel. Frieza's ship!

Goku turned towards it, ready to dash, but to his dismay it was already almost fully submerged in a huge body of trickling lava. He watched, dumbfounded, as it rapidly disappeared into the thick, orange lake. He came to his senses. Bulma's ship was gone. Frieza's ship was gone. He couldn't see any pods or other vessels anywhere, and he was fairly certain that the Namekians didn't have ships. But just as he was about to give up all hope, he spotted something… a shiny chrome sparkle that stood out on the rippling horizon.

* * *

Obi-Wan picked up the dying young woman.

He raised a hand to the entrance of her chrome-coloured Naboo ship and with a hiss of gas it began to open. He began to jog, trying to be as gentle as possible with the fragile body. C-3PO, the gold-plated protocol droid, was already there with a wheeled bed, and he laid her down slowly. C-3PO began to pull her away.

 _"Oh my! I'll see to her right away! Master Kenobi, where is young Master Skywalker? I'm sure I saw him here not ten minutes ago!"_

Obi-Wan's face darkened. "He's…"

He stopped abruptly and lashed around. Something… no, some _one_ was approaching, and fast. He gestured for C-3PO to hurry on inside, and he drew the hilt of his lightsabre, not yet igniting the blade. And sure enough, a brilliant, human-shaped, yellowish beacon of light was fast descending towards the ship. The radiant figure twirled majestically through the air as it fell, and landed poised on the ground nearby. The figure's golden aura dissipated.

Before Obi-Wan stood a tall, pale-skinned man. The man wore what looked like orange Jedi robes. Huge, sculpted muscles bulged visibly under his torn, dark-blue undershirt, and a dark-blue cloth belt hung from his waist. His hair was a shade of glistening gold, and it protruded from his head, both hanging over his face and splaying up into the air. The man's eyes were a piercing, maddened shade of blue, and thick blood dripped from his chiselled features which were contorted into a deep frown.  
The Force that emanated from him was overwhelming, and unlike anything he'd ever felt before.

"Who are you?!" Obi-Wan demanded.

"I'm Goku." The man replied. Suddenly, the man's facial expression softened, and his hair and eyes immediately lost their colour, changing instead to an inconceivably dark black. His pelt sagged downwards until it only protruded at the sides, but it still remained impossibly spiky.

"Your name is none of my concern. What is your business with me?" Obi-Wan struggled to maintain his composure.

"I have no business with you, stranger. I just need your ship. Now."

"What for?"

" _What for?!_ Are you blind?! Can't you see that this whole place is gonna explode any minute now?! Hurry up and let me get on the damned ship!"

"Explode?"

"Yeah, explode! Don't tell me you haven't noticed…?!" The man turned and pointed behind him, gesturing frantically at the spurts of lava and steam that caked the landscape for miles and beyond.

"I wasn't aware that — well, even if it _were_ to explode, why would I give you my ship? Surely, I would need it as well?"

The man raised his voice, growing frustrated quickly. "I'm not taking it. I just need it to get off this planet before it blows! C'mon!"

"Why should I trust you?" Obi-Wan said as his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

The man shook his head and clenched his fists, and a wispy layer of soft yellow light spread across every inch of his body. A gust of electrified air burst from the man named Goku's core. Obi-Wan stumbled backwards.

 _ **"I don't think you have a choice, stranger."**_


	2. Machinations

" _Can't we go any faster?"_

" _Don't rush me! We're going as fast as we can."_

" _But—"_

* * *

 _ **KABLAM!**_

Goku turned sharply toward the sound, immediately bringing up an arm to shield his bloodshot eyes from the sudden burst of orange light that flooded the ship. The blinding glare subsided. The star-encrusted canvas of black, infinite space returned to focus, and he found himself staring into an empty void where a planet had existed only moments before. The ship shook violently as the shockwave of expelled atmospheric debris caught up to them. He closed his eyes and concentrated, searching for signs of life in the rapidly cooling wreckage of rock and oxygen-starved flames. Nothing.

No Gohan, no Piccolo, no Bulma, no Vegeta, no Namekians, and most importantly… no Frieza.

At least that was a plus. Come to think of it, he was fairly certain that he had stopped sensing everyone else's ki signatures well before Namek blew up. He guessed that someone had probably used the Dragon Balls to transport them back to Earth. Still… that didn't change the fact that he was now stranded in space, hundreds of billions of miles away from home.

"Well, I suppose you were telling the truth after all."

The remark came from the pilot, the same stubborn stranger who had reluctantly agreed to let Goku aboard his ship. He appeared to be a human in his late thirties, with a neat, ochre-tinged beard, a slick haircut and a pair of piercing grey-blue eyes. He was wearing what looked like a dusty beige dogī that was lacerated with long, singed streaks of burnt fabric, and a long brown cloak was draped down his back.

"Well, I said so, didn't I? You should be glad I found you when I did, or you'd have been toast!" Goku muttered. "Anyway, what do I call you, stranger?"

The pilot let out an exasperated sigh and turned his head to face him. "My name is Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan Kenobi. I am a Jedi Master on the Jedi High Council… well, I _was_ , at least _._ I am fairly certain that title has little meaning now."

Goku raised his eyebrows in curiosity and immediately regretted it as a deep wound on his forehead creased painfully and squeezed out a tear of blood. "Jedi Master, huh? I gotta admit, I have no clue what that means. Sounds impressive, though."

The man called Obi-Wan looked puzzled. "You mean to say that you have never heard of the Jedi? You must really not be from around here."

"Nah, not really. I'm a Saiyan who was raised on Earth. I came to help my friends out but I ended up running into a bit of trouble."

"A… Saiyan? I can't say I've ever heard of, let alone met one of you. Are the rest of your species force-sensitive too?"

"Force- _what?_ "

Obi-Wan shifted in his seat, fully turning his body to face him. "Force-sensitive. As in, your living cells are attuned to manipulating the Force."

"Well I don't know about 'the Force'… but I can use ki, if that's what you mean."

"Ki?"

"Yeah. It's kinda hard to explain. All living things have it, it's like a sort of… _energy_ that powers life. If you have enough control over it, you can draw it out and manipulate it. It's kinda strange that you've never heard of it though, cause you—"

" _Oh goodness! My good sir, you look quite ruffled! I would most humbly ask that you let me tend to your wounds at once!"_ A golden, humanoid robot suddenly peeked around the corner of the cockpit and interrupted him.

"Oh. It's fine, really. Besides, it looks like you've got your hands full at the moment." Goku said, turning to look at the motionless young woman at the other end of the ship. "I can hold out for a little longer."

" _Well… as you wish, sir."_ The quirky robot bowed his head in acknowledgment and turned on his golden heels, waddling stiffly towards his patient.

Obi-Wan turned back around and focused his gaze on the vast expanse ahead. "Rest, now. You can explain yourself to me later… _Goku._ I sense much good in you, and I believe that you may be able to aid us in our efforts to preserve what little we have left. It pains me to say it… but many battles are still to be fought."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You will understand, Saiyan. In time."

* * *

" _Ha. Haha. HAHAHAHAHAHA!  
How poetic. One little explosion, and __**boom!**_ _Frieza and Kakarot are_ _ **both**_ _out of my hair! That means I'm number one now, people. So get used to it! It was real nice of your dad, kid… getting rid of Frieza like that for me? What a guy! He served his purpose well."_

" _Y-you bastard! You're… you're_ _ **nothing**_ _compared to him! He spared your life,_ _ **twice!**_ _"_

" _Well he shouldn't have been so soft, should he?! Which leads me to the question of what to do with his brat… kill you now so you don't get strong enough to pester me some day, maybe? Ha.  
Don't sweat it, kid. You're the only Saiyan alive besides me. And anyway… I need someone around to polish my boots all day and call me Lord Vegeta… AHAHAHAHAH!"_

" _He_ _ **will**_ _come back! You'll see! And when he does… he's gonna kick your smug ass!"_

" _Tsk. Dream on."_

* * *

Goku woke from troubled dreams to the sound of muffled panic.

The chatter of clicking, whirring machines and frantic shouting seemed far away, barely tickling the edge of his hearing. He breathed in.  
Tasteless water filled his lungs. He forced his eyes open and a mixture of light and water flooded them, and he struggled, scrambling to swim upwards, but tautened wires snapped and strained on his tethered limbs.

" _Crap! He's awake early! Lower the catalyst level!"_

Suddenly, Goku was on his feet, no longer submerged. The wires on his wrists and ankles slacked and slinked away. He bent over in the cramped space and regurgitated a stream of blue-tinted liquid. It was a healing pod! The translucent cylindrical wall began to slide open up in front of him as he hastily wiped his mouth. Was he back on one of Frieza's ships? No, he couldn't be… why would he be in a healing pod? Then again, Zarbon _did_ put Vegeta in one back on Namek, but that was out of carelessness. Goku doubted the same mistake would have been made again.

The narrow exit opened into a large, brightly-lit room, and the sounds of bustling people wracked his de-pressurising ears as he stumbled forward. An assortment of diverse and exotic humanoid creatures wearing white labcoats and face-masks criss-crossed between each other, pushing hospital beds that hovered above the ground and taking hurried notes on spectral clipboards made of light. The harder he focused, the clearer he saw the proliferating rows of corridors and automated devices that seemed to extend long into the distance. Suddenly, his trance was broken by the divergent path of a tall, soft-featured humanoid robot that quickly approached him.

" _Patient 20263117: Goku. I see that you have concluded your medicinal stasis. I hope that you are feeling better."_

Goku cracked a smile and scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, you know what? I feel great! Those things get you healed up real good. But, one question… where am I, exactly?"

" _Of course. You are currently in Therapeutic Bay 02264, on the asteroid of Polis Massa."_

"What?! On an asteroid? But… but I thought that asteroids were supposed to be on fire and moving really fast!" Goku exclaimed.

The medical bot's programming did not encompass the scolding of stupid questions, however, and calmly replied. _"Please do not worry. This particular body is in orbit of a planet, and has an augmented gravitational field to ensure the safety of all of our patients."_

Goku shrugged. "I'll take your word for it. By the way, where is that Obi-Wan guy? Last thing I remember was falling asleep, and then…"

" _Master Kenobi is currently with Lady Padmé. He specifically sent me to retrieve you as soon as you awoke. Lady Padmé is currently in a critical condition."_

"Really? We'd better get going then."

" _Certainly."_

* * *

" _Your majesty, we have located Lord Frieza."_

" _Bring him in._ _ **Now.**_ _"_

" _Sir, he's in a critical condition. We need more time to find a way to retrieve him without—"_

" _Captain, are you disobeying my orders?"_

" _No, your majesty. W-w-we'll bring him in as soon as possible."_

* * *

" _My lord, we've found Lord Vader."_

" _Good. Get a medical capsule immediately."_

" _Yes, sir, right away."_

" _Lieutenant, contact the Augmentation Bay. Tell them to have life-support synthetics ready for our arrival."_

" _Understood, sir."_

* * *

Goku swiftly followed the gliding robot across countless openings and corridors until they reached a secluded area, rather more neat and not nearly as bustling with patients as the previous rooms they had passed. In the centre of the cosy and poignantly-illuminated chamber behind a pane of glass, the same young woman who was with Obi-Wan lay on a hospital with a pained expression and her entire lower body covered with an opaque plastic sheath. She writhed meekly under the encouraging touch of another medical robot. Goku had seen a familiar scene somewhere before…  
Of course! Chi-Chi had been in exactly the same position around the time that Gohan was born at their little home in the countryside. After much toil, Goku managed to put two and two together. The woman was giving birth!

But something was wrong. He closed his eyes. Although it was almost small enough not to even notice, her ki was fading, fast. If this kept up, she was going to die! And something else was off. Her ki wasn't receding into herself, as Goku knew to be the case when a living being died. It was escaping her body… dispersing into the surrounding air, the surrounding _space_. It was surreal, and unlike anything he had ever witnessed.

"Do you feel that, too?"

His eyes snapped open and he turned towards the familiar voice.

"She's dying." Obi-Wan whispered. "Her essence is returning to the Force."

Goku looked back at her. "So that's what that is? I've never seen energy fade like that before. What can we do about it? I can help! She's going to die if we don't try something!"

Obi-Wan put his face in his palms. "The medics are doing the best they can. We can save the babies, but… Padmé isn't likely to survive the birth."

Goku's eyebrows raised. "Babie _s_? There's more than one at the same time?!"

"Yes. Had you never heard of that happening before? You really are a strange one." Obi-Wan looked woefully exasperated.

"I dunno, maybe? But how can—" Goku began to say, but a shriek of pain from inside the maternity chamber interrupted him.

" _Master Kenobi. Your assistance is required."_

* * *

The toppled tyrant awoke.

The turbulent nightmare fractured in an instant. His eyes snapped open, and artificial light tickled his retinas, forcing him to squint. He sat up with surprising speed, and what would have been described as unimaginable pain by any other creature was not felt.

A fist suddenly clenched by his side. Not his own fist… merely a piece of grubby metal that resembled it. And yet, the sensation of his knuckles bulging furiously in the frustrated gesture felt distinctly real. He began to take notice of the rest of his once-severed body, and the assortment of metallic parts that took its place.

His head creaked round slowly. The blank gaze passed briefly by the frightened and reverent faces of his loyal servants and came to rest on a tall, familiar figure behind a pane of shadowed glass above. His steel-clad brow furrowed as he contorted his composed face into a silent snarl.

"Father, set a course for Earth. We're going monkey poaching."

* * *

The Chosen One regained consciousness.

Charred skin crackled under his writhing body. His vision swam briefly, and soon his yellowed eyes focused on a shiny black frame floating ominously above his head, moving excruciatingly slowly towards his ruined face. He tried to flail his limbs in agony, expecting the cauterised stumps to barely move… but they were stumps no more.

Hands crunched into fists of black leather and carbon fibre, toes curled onto plastic rims infused with steel, and with every heartbeat the clank of twisting iron shuddered in his chest. The blackness began to consume his view, masking him from the incessant noise and naked light that assaulted his every sense. The mask hissed with gas and locked into place.

A single, rattling breath escaped his lungs.

"Vader. Are you awake? Can you hear me?"

"Yes, master. Where is Padmé?"

"It seems that, in your anger, you… _killed her._ "

A long, terrible silence ensued, broken only by the rasping inhalations and exhalations that echoed around the tiny chamber.


	3. Anomaly

" _Padm_ _é._ _Padm_ _é! Can you hear me? You have to stay strong! Look. These are your children! What… what are their names? They're a boy and a girl."_

" _L-Luke. And… a-and Leia."_

" _You have to live for them,_ _Padm_ _é. Hold on! I'm still here."_

" _Obi-Wan… tell… tell Anakin that I still love him. Make sure you forgive him, Obi-Wan. He's just... l-lost…"_

" _No!_ _Padm_ _é!"_

* * *

Obi-Wan clasped her hand gently as her delicate fingers started to unfurl. Her eyelids flittered and her breathing slowed immediately. Obi-Wan's grip tightened. The Jedi had always been trained in the art of stoicism, the art of suffering without reaction; but Obi-Wan was struggling hard to keep the tears at bay. What could he do now? How could he stop this? And most of all, how could he stop Anakin?

"Stand back."

The coal-pelted warrior stood behind them, with his muscular right arm extended, and his palm flat and perfectly still. Obi-Wan stayed crouched by the dying mother, confused.

" **I** _ **said**_ **… stand back or she's going to die!"**

Obi-Wan scrambled out of the way in a daze, reluctantly letting go of her cold hand and desperately placing all of his trust in the insistent stranger. Goku bared his teeth and his hand vibrated softly, quickly becoming enveloped in an amber light. He let out a hushed growl, and glowing tendrils were suddenly emitted from the tips of his fingers, encasing the woman in a haze of yellow. Obi-Wan stood with the infants in his arms, dumbfounded. He could _see_ it. The Living Force was filling every fibre of her being, multiplying and radiating outwards from her core until every living cell was replete with life. A few tense seconds passed. The burst of energy ceased.

Senator Padmé Amidala sat up at once.

* * *

" _Just you wait, father. We are going to amass the greatest fighting force the universe has ever seen!"_

" _Indeed, but that will take… quite a while, given the…_ _ **abysmal**_ _recruitment rate after the horrific shambles on Namek. Well, Frieza, perhaps it would be a better idea to pay a brief visit to his rather distasteful little home planet_ _ **first.**_ _We wouldn't want him getting any stronger now, would we?"_

" _That… that was all just a mistake! He caught me off guard, I… I was careless…"_

" _Yes, my son,_ _ **so**_ _careless in fact that you stand before me now with half your body replaced with scrap—"_

" _Father. Please. I am still the Emperor. You are still the King. We have behind us the support of every world for lightyears around. Nothing has changed as of yet. All I need… is to squash_ _ **one**_ _Saiyan insect. Until then, I'll never be able to sleep in this cosmos knowing that I share it with him."_

" _Well… I suppose one monkey isn't too much to handle, especially for the two of us."_

" _We shall bide our time. Until we decide to show up on his doorstep, we should grow our forces… expand our reach. None must know of my defeat! If we show even the slightest signs of weakness, we'll lose our grip."_

" _Very well, my son. What should we do first?"_

" _Namek was already on the outer rim of our rule, and I'm certain there are yet a myriad of further systems to conquer in every direction. You there, wait! Commander! Give the order. Deploy your men to the nearest galaxy. Tell them to capture the weak and recruit the strong… and slaughter anyone who decides to struggle."_

* * *

"Wha… what happened? I thought I…" Padmé gasped, looking around frantically.

Obi-Wan's eyes widened in shock. Goku dropped his outstretched hand to his side.

"Gosh, lady! I really thought you were gonna kick the bucket there for a second! You should be glad I stepped in." He said in a characteristically jovial tone. "Probably shouldn't've sat up so quick, though."

"What?" Padmé muttered dazedly as she collapsed back onto the bed. Obi-Wan handed the babies to the nearest midwife-robot and rushed over to her side.

" _Lady Amidala will be fine. She only appears to have lost consciousness. We will take her to another holding bay and wait for her to recover. Thank you for your assistance."_ The soft-voiced machine assured him.

Obi-Wan bowed his head respectfully, thanked the nurses and turned his attention to Goku. He took one last look back at the beautiful Senator's sleeping face and he began to walk with the Saiyan out of the ward and into the long, bright white corridor.

"Oh, by the Force… thank you, thank you! How did you even DO that?!"

"Well, it was just a case of giving her some of my ki. It didn't really take very much, cause she doesn't really have any physical injuries." He replied.

"There it is again."

"What?"

"This 'ki' you keep mentioning."

"Yeah, what about it?" Goku looked confused. "I was surprised you didn't know about it. I sensed your ki just fine… and it's a lot larger than average so I reckoned you already knew about ki control."

Obi-Wan stood in thought for a second, his hand resting pensively on his neatly-trimmed beard.  
"I believe that what you refer to as 'ki' is known to me as the Living Force. It's an aspect of the Force which resides in the organic makeup of all living creatures. Without it, creatures cease to be alive… but it seems like you've managed to manipulate the Living Force _itself_ and concentrate it intensely into an external form of energy. Other than Sith lightning, I've never seen or heard of such a thing."

Goku raised his eyebrows. "So that's what you think ki is? That seems close enough. What's the Force, anyway?"

"The Force is an energy field created by intrinsic, cosmic and organic entities. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It holds the galaxy together." Obi-Wan spoke with rhythm and confidence, as though he had recited this core tenet of his life as a Jedi a thousand times before.

"I'm not gonna pretend I _fully_ understand that, but I kinda get it." Goku chuckled. "But hey. If learning more about the Force is gonna make me stronger, I'm all for it."

"Indeed. Perhaps… if you teach me about your 'ki', I might show you a thing or two about the ways of the Force. How does that sound?" Obi-Wan mused.

"Deal." Goku said, and as they approached the end of the corridor, a smile creeped across his face at the prospect of propelling himself to knew, undiscovered heights.

* * *

Obi-Wan had already resolved to exile himself after his defeat of Anakin on Namek, the planet in the outer regions to which the viceroys of the Trade Federation had fled to escape Palpatine's betrayal. The galaxy was a mess. Palpatine had taken control in the ensuing choas, and few knew he was Sith Lord. Obi-Wan could feel the deaths of his fellow Jedi at the hands of the once-loyal troopers they had so bravely led into battle, their lives extinguished as stars blotted out by the clouds of the night sky.

He had thought that to hide was the only option. That this would all blow over. That he needed to remain alive in order to pass on the knowledge of the Light, so it would not be lost. He would have to wait until the Light was strong enough in one person so that they could rise up and bring balance to the Force.

The Light **is** balance.

Many before him had mistakenly assumed that the balance required the Light and Dark to exist side by side. The Jedi maintained that the Dark Side was a corruption of the natural state of being; that the Light was a state of harmony with it. In the Force, The Sith see a tool; and the Jedi a guide. Or so he had been told.

Then how was this man _possible?_

On the surface of that dying planet, Obi-Wan had sensed something within Goku. Something which had encapsulated all of his doubts as a Jedi, as a wielder of the Force… as a sentient being in this vast universe. The Force is **not** a spectrum. The Light asks for compassion and unity, but also emptiness of emotion and isolation. The Dark asks for destruction and self-interest, but also passion and attachment. Between these paradoxical extremes, there is no middle ground… only apathy.

The Saiyan was pure of heart. Malice and destruction were totally absent from his mind. The Light Side engulfed him totally. He was at peace with himself and the space he occupied.  
He was also capable of the most terrible fury. Deep down, a primal rage rattled and shook its mortal cage, desperate to display itself in the form of raw, unadulterated power. Emotion coursed through the Saiyan's veins, and the compassion he felt was not of the Jedi kind. It was not simply the protection of ideas, of stability, of the rotten politics the Jedi had subjected themselves to for millennia. It was personal attachment. Unyielding respect for those around him. Family. Friends. The willingness to mercilessly destroy anyone who dared to harm them.

If Obi-Wan could find this power within himself, perhaps he would not need to wait in exile. Since the days of old, the paradoxes of the Force had held the reigns on the trillions of tiny fates scattered throughout the galaxy, and caused perpetual cycles of conflict.

Perhaps this anomaly of a man… was the solution.


	4. The Search

Kakarot was gone. He had thought he was dead; no, he had prayed for it, and had assumed that once and for all he would stand atop the food chain as the most powerful being in existence. The Dragon's revelation that the bottom-feeder was not only not dead but _refused_ to return to his home planet had destroyed that delusion ruthlessly. Out in the depths of space, the commoner was probably on some quest to become stronger, to outdo, to humiliate. This insult to the Prince's pride would not go unpunished. There were many powers he was yet to unlock, and many heights to which he would ascend.

Reinvigorated by this burst of bitter determination, he punched in the digits of the keyboard. 300G. If Kakarot could reach a level beyond that of the Ginyu Force with a mere hundred times Earth's gravity, then the Prince would triple his efforts. The lights inside the spherical chamber dimmed and reddened, warning outsiders of the current change in the internal climate.

 _Stand by. Increasing to: 300 times earth's gravity. Be warned: this level is fatal for human participants._

" _I_ am no human."

Vegeta closed his eyes and stood tall, taking as deep a breath as possible before the very air around him began to sink downwards under the steadily increasing pull of the fundamental force. His thick black hair began to sag and then eventually strain against its roots, flattening on his prominent widow's peak. The blood in his veins and arteries sped and slowed as it travelled up and down his bulging form, with the alien, muscular walls of every vessel resisting the urge to simply allow the precious oxygen-bearing fuel to rush to his feet and drain his head.

He raised his ki. All the cells that made up his body opened the tiny gates that lay within them. These were the nanoscopic organelles which were the portals to his core. His spirit began to tumble out of the tiny openings, and a blueish aura formed around his body as a sea of undefined and ethereal particles which would take shape on his command.

He roared.

The aura expanded, then dissipated, and he was off. Darting from wall to wall, from floor to ceiling, the Prince propelled his body forward with violent bursts of invisible force, counteracting the burden of his immense weight. Hooks, jabs, kicks, elbows, and knees lashed out against the downward current. Finally, he relented. On his knees, sucking profusely on the heavy air that settled on the bottom of the chamber, he forced himself into a handstand. Blood rushed to his head and threatened to topple him, but with a snarl his body co-operated. Luminescent ki particles were spilling from his pores like sweat as he pushed up and down, fighting with all he had against the waves of exhaustion. Consciousness left him for a moment…

And he awoke on the ground with all his fingers broken.

The red lights returned to their surgical whiteness instantaneously as he began to howl in pain and his chest rose and fell rapidly as the tug of the artificial gravity subsided. A screen with the blue-haired Earth-woman's face plastered on it appeared above him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" She sneered, with a miniscule hint of affectionate concern in her voice. "Do you want to die or what? You need medical attention, **now!** "

"Go away. I don't need your help." Was all he managed to say before picking himself up and dragging himself from the hellish chamber.

 _This_ was not enough. He needed a _fight_ , not just some lousy gravity training. He could only become a Super Saiyan through the toughest of battles: Kakarot's ascension had proved as much. Who in this barren cosmos, other than that buffoon, would prove a worthy challenge to his might? These Earthlings were pitiful. The Namekian would refuse. The half-breed was too dangerous and too bothersome to train to match his level. He needed Kakarot.

But first, he would have to find him.

* * *

Months had passed. Obi-Wan knew that he had to hide the children of Anakin from the Empire, somehow. Padmé of course refused to part from her son and daughter, but he knew that if the children were separated, there would be less chance of the discovery. She could not return to Naboo, her and Palpatine's native world, because she would be recognised and easily captured. Though a strong and independent woman, she would surely not survive the harsh desert lands of Tatooine in her currently fragile state of mind and body.

After much debate and outcry from the distressed mother, she agreed to go with her daughter Leia to Alderaan to be kept safe by the Organas until the Empire fell, and entrusted the care of her son Luke to the watchful eyes of Kenobi and what left of the Skywalker kin on Tatooine. Goku had patiently waited for these affairs to be resolved, wishing to continue his training. Porunga's call for him to return home had come too early. He told the Dragon that he wanted to stay where he was.  
And now, while Obi-Wan handed over the infant boy to his uncle and aunt, Goku stood, watching the Jedi turn away from the small family and walk in contemplation toward the desert beyond.

"Hey! Wait up, Obi-Wan. Where are we going?" Goku asked, jogging to catch up.

"My name is Ben, now. Remember that. We are going to the middle of nowhere. You will teach me as I will teach you. If we play our cards right, we could crush the Empire before it even takes off."

* * *

 _"_ _Wait a minute, where are you headed now?"_

 _"_ _This doesn't concern you, woman. I will do what I must to get stronger."_

 _"_ _And 'getting stronger' means flying a ship into the middle of nowhere space looking for Goku, who_ _ **specifically**_ _told us not to try and look for him?"_

 _"_ _And what makes you think I obey Kakarot's wishes? I will find him, and I will fight him until I am a Super Saiyan."_

 _"_ _Argh! It's all about strength and power to you Saiyans! Don't you care about anything else?"_

 _"_ _My pride. My lineage. My legacy as a warrior. Nothing else."_

 _"_ _But… but… but what about me? You can't just be with me and then… and then just… leave like it meant nothing to you!"_

 _"_ _Well, I guess you're in for a surprise: you're wrong. Goodbye."_


	5. Boundaries

"Okay. You need to stay still. Close your eyes."

Goku was cross-legged, motionless, and dying inside. He could smell the wafts of roasted meat on the spit they had left on the fire back at the hut. His stomach growled at the scent of the bizarre animal flesh… it was like a beef burger drizzled in… lemon, with a hint of red onion… maybe honey? No. He exhaled, putting the food out of mind. It could wait. He had a job to do.

"Consider yourself. Your consciousness. Where _you_ reside. Imagine that you are simply an unmoving point inside your head."

Goku was familiar with how this sort of meditation worked. Within moments, he was in a state of complete tranquillity, with the blackness of his mind engulfing all but his hearing.

"Now. Let that point start to grow. Let it grow until it starts to depart from the confines of your head, outside of your body…"

Goku obeyed. His ki began to swell. Obi-Wan felt the Living Force distort the air around the silent man.

"No, no. Not like that. You already know how to bring out the power that is within you. You need to search for what lies _beyond_ yourself. You must reach _out_ …"

"What do you mean, _out?_ " The Saiyan asked as his eyes snapped open, "I can't feel _out_ , Ben. Out there is just emptiness. It's just air and sand and rocks and the smell of dinnertime. Are you asking me to look for someone?"

"Well… from a certain point of view, yes. But that 'someone' isn't a living person. The Force is like the consciousness of the galaxy itself. You are partially linked to it already, but you draw from the reserves of energy created by your own body rather than that which surrounds you."

"I guess I can try again." Goku said, sighing.

Again, the blankness overcame him. Obi-Wan's gentle instruction guided his mind once more on the outward path.

Eventually, time dripped away from perception as though his brain were a wet rag, squeezed by the sheer concentration with which he sought the cosmic aspect of the Force, this mystical thing that was larger and more impenetrable than anything he had ever known. Then, suddenly, at some undefined point in this vast journey, something clicked. A coldness gripped him momentarily, as though his being were a mass of wispy tendrils, one of which had brushed perchance against a sharp edge. Beyond that edge was an abyss. He loomed above it. Strings of light and dark, stretched before and above and behind and below him, helically interwoven, extended to endless depths and lengths and breadths, to dimensions he felt he would never again know and to the infinities beyond them.

He felt alien. He felt _wrong_.

He was the sole irregular entity in a bastion of order. The only variable in a sea of constants. Even so, he tried to reach out, in all his formless glory. The strings slinked away without appearing to. He was not permitted. He tried again. They receded once more. To his surprise, he felt overwhelming despair. Little was he to know that this was the very factory of fate itself. This is where destiny was made. The Force would not allow intruders. The fight between balance and chaos was only to be fought by the worthy. By the pawns. His use of the Force was a heresy, a mistake. His independence was a danger to both sides. His own essence, the very gift it had given, had been abused by both he and his ancestors. Their banishment was supposed to be permanent. It had not yielded then, and it would not yield now… regardless of his intentions. _Never!_

* * *

 **"** **AAAARGH!"**

* * *

Goku screamed and fell back onto the sand. For a moment, he had felt as though his body was being torn in two. He looked down to check, breathing out heavily in relief. Getting up quickly and wiping a bead of icy sweat from his brow, he turned to Obi-Wan.

"What was that, huh? What in Kami's name was that? I didn't like that at all, Ben. I'm all for some hard training, but this… this is crazy!" Goku muttered, pacing around. "I've never felt something like that before. I mean, I can get a little nervous before a big fight, but it's always the good kind of scared, the excited kind of scared—"

"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked, puzzled. "What did you see?"

"See? More like, what did I _feel_. Wow. I'm really gonna have to work at this Force thing."

"Well, what _did_ you feel?"

"I'm not sure. It felt like I was gonna die. It… it felt like I was about to mess up big time, like I was gonna disturb something I had no right to." Goku shuddered, and then straightened himself and looked with a determined smile. "Well, that isn't gonna stop me from gettin' stronger, that's for sure! It's getting cold. Let's head inside and we can talk more there. I am _starving_!"

Obi-Wan was thoughtful as he walked back to the cosy hut, a few paces behind the famished Saiyan. Was he right? If the Force had rejected Goku as it had only a few others in the history of the galaxy, had it foreseen something of his future? Something disruptive enough to worry about? He rested on the thought, biting down absent-mindedly on the stick of meat.

* * *

 _"_ _You have acquired the lightsabre of a Jedi, and the kyber crystal it contains… but they are not yet yours. The crystal is a potent thing, alive in some strange way, pulsing with Light Side energy. You will need great strength to bend it to your will. Corrupt the kyber crystal. Teach it your_ _ **pain**_ _. Teach it your_ _ **anger**_ _. Hear it sing a hymn of darkness. Make it_ _ **bleed.**_ _"_


	6. Contact

_"_ _My word… so this is what my people get for being loyal to Frieza? How could he order Vegeta to do this to us… after all we've done for him?"_

 _"_ _Hmph. Fool. No-one tells me what to do anymore,_ _ **especially**_ _not him."_

 _"_ _Y-you dare to defy Frieza?"_

 _"_ _Look, I didn't even come here to fight you. Your big-mouthed men started it. I'm just looking for another saiyan calling himself Goku."_

 _"_ _I've never even heard of him!"_

 _"_ _Are you sure? If you're lying, you are going to_ _ **get it**_ _."_

 _"_ _Hah. W-we're protected under Frieza's t-treaty. You're the one who's going to get it!"_

 _"_ _Oh really? You think so?!"_

 _"_ _Don't te-OOF!"_

 _"_ _The treaty you made with Frieza is no longer valid. A saiyan who goes by the name of Goku is now the strongest fighter in the universe. He finished off Frieza for good."_

 _"_ _Frieza? Killed by a m-monkey? What a joke!"_

 _"_ _Hahahaa. Look who's talking, you dodo bird. You're about to become extinct."_

 _"_ _No! Wait, I-AAAAAARRGHH!"_

* * *

Goku stood confidently with his arms crossed, smirking. He had recently modified his gi to suit the desert climate and better match the attire of his new Jedi master-apprentice. He had mended his torn orange robes and fashioned them into a tunic of sorts, with a long, wide streak of fabric draped diagonally from his left shoulder across his torso and back. His arms remained exposed but for his blue wristbands, and his dark blue undershirt had been made into the bottom of a draping tailcoat that hung over the backs of his orange-clad legs, held in place by his fabric belt.

"Come at me."

Obi-Wan crouched. Aided by a burst of the Force, he rocketed towards Goku in a whirl of orange dust. His leg swung round, completing a rapid half-turn before his foot connected solidly with his opponent's bulging neck. Goku's hair simply ruffled under the impact; he did not move a muscle, or an inch. Obi-Wan grimaced with pain: it was almost as bad as kicking Grievous in the shins. He snapped around, propelling himself with his landed right foot, and with his other he delivered what would have been a devastating heel kick directly to the saiyan's face. As if he were striking a steel doorknob, Goku's sharp little nose dug bluntly into Kenobi's ankle and he twisted mid-air once again, unleashing a futile elbow strike before landing and following up with a flurry of well-aimed but ineffectual punches.

He took a step back, panting.

"You're going to have to do better than that. You need to try and focus your mind into every strike. See—"

Before Goku could utter another word, Obi-Wan closed his eyes, bent over and thrust his hands forward. Goku's eyes widened. He was swept off his feet immediately, tumbling through a runway of sand before swiftly sailing off the dune on which they had been fighting. As he struggled to correct his fall, he felt himself push against an immovable wall that forced his head downwards and caused him to skid face-first across the droughted dirt below. For the outward-branching river of Force current wasn't simply a telekinetic blast like the ones he knew; it was a ripple of warped space. Regardless of his own strength, movement against it was impossible.  
The Jedi master slid down the dune towards the face-down saiyan, his eyes still closed in deep concentration and his hands still firmly outstretched.

"Hehe," chuckled Goku, his mouth pressed to the crackled ground. "Force really packs a punch, doesn't it? But… you can't attack me while you're holding me down. Problem is, one slip in your concentration…"

He punched the pulverised floor below him and a shockwave bellowed out across the earth. Kenobi's eyes opened in shock and he tripped forward, bracing himself for impact. The impact he got, however, was not the kind of impact he was expecting. Goku appeared before him from thin air and delivered a palm strike to the Jedi's chest. Instantly winded, he doubled over and fell to his knees, coughing.

"That's enough for now. We need more meditative training, so you can tap into your internal reserves properly. We're never gonna bring your ki out just by fighting."

"Right," Obi-Wan said, sighing as Goku helped pull him to his feet. "I think it'd be a welcome break. Though you must tell me: how much were you holding back? Really?"

Goku laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well… I'm probably going at a bit less than one percent. I really was trying my hardest against your Force push there, though. There's not much I can do about that."

 _ **"**_ _ **Less**_ **than** _ **one percent?!"**_

* * *

 _"_ _Commander Tarkin, sir. We have twenty unidentified vessels inbound from the rear."_

 _"_ _Who are they? I find it hard to believe these wretched Separatist stragglers have already got the drop on us."_

 _"_ _They appear to be spherical… only space for one passenger. Perhaps an escape pod of sorts—"_

 _"_ _I don't want 'perhaps', soldier. I require a reading on those vessels, now."_

 _"_ _Sir, they're headed straight for Antar-4!"_

 _"_ _I cannot allow them to disrupt this operation. Fire at will."_

* * *

Putting on the new helmet hadn't been easy. The eyepieces were too small, it smelled of disinfectant and sat too tightly on the back of his head, but those were just trivialities.

The old, hard, expressionless external Mandalorian shell of before had defined him for years. He was made from a heartless gun for hire, but had been crafted to do good in the name of all that was right in the galaxy, without pay. He was the embodiment of commitment. To his brothers, to the Republic, to democracy and peace, to eliminating the malignant factions who threatened it. And now he was the embodiment of the opposite.

The darkness in a set of white armour.

See, the worst thing about the small, dark-tinted eyepieces was that when you looked into the eyes of a cowering Jedi child, you could barely see anything. It held no figure, no form, no soul: there was no value beyond its fearful orbs. It was just a husk of flesh, ready to be pumped full of plasma.


End file.
